Dane County WI Archives History - Books .....Historical Introduction 1877
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Book Title: Madison, Dane County And Surrounding Towns...

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

  DANE COUNTY is situated about the center of the state running east and west,
or midway between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river, about twenty-four
miles north of the southern line of this state and Illinois. In the north it is
bounded by Columbia and Sauk counties, on the south by Rock and Green, on the
east by Dodge and Jefferson, and on the west by Iowa, the Wisconsin river
crossing the northwest corner, dividing it from Sauk. This river has its source
in the Lac Vieux Desert, on the Michigan state boundary, runs south to Portage,
thence west to the Mississippi river, almost equally dividing our state, and
draining in its course an area of 11,900 square miles. The county is forty-two
miles from east to west, thirty miles from north to south, with an area of 1,235
square miles, thirty-five of which is cohered with water of the lakes. There are
thirty-five townships of thirty-six square miles each, except the townships of
Black Earth and Mazomanie. The latter has eighteen square miles, and the former
thirty. Its latitude is 43 degrees north, and longitude 89 degrees west, from
Greenwich. The State University is one mile due west from the State House, and
its geographical position is latitude, 43° 04' 33" 1-10 north; longitude, 89°
24" 03' 3-10 west of Greenwich. The State House is located on sections 13, 14,
23 and 24, town 7 north, range 9 east. The normal condition of the barometer is
twenty-nine inches, as compared with the sea level, where it is thirty inches.

  The county is famed for its pre-historic collections, there being few of its
towns that are not able to exhibit some evidences of the people who long ago
made our county a favorite resort for the building of their mounds, which
whether intended as places of interment or as fortifications for protection, is
as yet comparatively uncertain, though evidences are strong in favor of both
hypotheses.

  The county was the home of a branch of the Winnebago Indians, and considerable
trading was carried on between them and several Indian traders, among whom were
Michael St. Cyr (a Canadian half-breed), Joe Pelkie, Oliver Armell (Canadian
French), Abel Rasdall, Wallis Rowan, [1]* and Albert Wood (Americans), as well
as several others. Rowan was the only one who had a white wife.

  * [Transcriber’s note - The author of this chapter used a variety of printer’s
symbols to indicate footnotes, including using the same symbol more than once in
the same paragraph. To avoid confusion, the transcriber decided to serially
number the footnotes.]

  [1] This was the Wallis Rowan who found Lieut. Force's watch. Passing across
the prairie between Poynette and the City of the Four Lakes, where he formerly
resided, he found the remains of an Indian, whose bones the wolves had picked
clean, and giving the debris a kick, turned up the watch. Having no use for it
he sometime afterwards offered to sell it to E. M. Williamson, Esq., who
declined purchasing until satisfactory proof was obtained that none of Force's
relatives existed. The fact, however, reaching the ears of the friends,
application was made and the watch obtained.

  In 1836 it was set off from the west part of Milwaukee and east part of Iowa
county; it received the name of Dane county from Gov. Doty, in honor of
Nathaniel Dane, who, in 1787, introduced the celebrated ordinance for the
government of the northwest territory. In 1839 it was organized as a separate
county.

  The principal lakes in the county are First — Kegonsa; Second— Waubesa;
Third—Monona; Fourth—Mendota; and Dead Lake or lake Wingra. They are about 210
feet above the level of Lake Michigan, and about 797 feet above the Atlantic ocean.

  The origin of the above names cannot be better explained, especially as there
exists a slight difference of opinion on the subject, than by presenting to our
readers the following communication from Hon. SIMEON MILLS, one of our early
settlers, whose intimate connection with the civil history of Madison will be
deemed good authority, while the interesting facts supplied by Hon. LYMAN C.
DRAPER, of the State Historical Society, will be read with an approved evidence
of the steady research he gives all such subjects:

THE FOUR LAKES — HOW THEY WERE NAMED — BY SIMEON MILLS.

  These beautiful sheets of water, the pride of Wisconsin, centrally located in
Dane county, occupying part of five different townships, and stretching out,
from northwest to southeast, a distance of about twenty miles, were probably
called "The Four Lakes" for the same reason that the principal divisions of the
year are called the "four seasons," because they are four in number. Just when
or by whom the southeasterly one was named First Lake, and the northwesterly one
Fourth Lake, does not at this day seem quite so apparent.

  In Mr. Tanner's map of this part of the northwestern territory, which was
probably the first map ever published showing these lakes, they are neither
named or numbered, but the stream connecting them is called the "Gooshcahon."

  When I located in Madison, in 1837, the lakes were then known as First,
Second, Third and Fourth lakes, and the outlet the Catfish, and were not known
or called by any other names for more than ten years thereafter. I was informed
by Mr. Abel Rasdall, an Indian trader then living on the east side of First
Lake, that the Winnebago Indians had no other names for the lakes but numbers,
just as we called them, and gave me the Indian names for one, two, three and
four, but which I remember only as harsh, gutteral sounds, that I cannot now
repeat; and his idea was that they were so numbered and named by the Indians. I
was afterwards informed, upon what appeared to be good authority, that the lakes
were first named by numbers by the surveyors who ran the township lines in this
portion of the territory, and the way in which it was done, being given at the
time, was conclusive evidence to my mind that the statement was correct. As the
survey was commenced on the south line of the territory and carried north, the
southeasterly or lower lake was reached first, which thus became No. 1, and as
the survey advanced the second, third and fourth were reached and numbered in
their regular order. In this view of the case, it seems to me probable that the
Indians learned these numbers or names for the lakes from the surveyors, which
Mr. Rasdall found in use when he came among them, and that this numbering was
not, as he supposed, of Indian origin, the location of Mr. R., on First Lake,
being some time after the survey was made.

  In 1849, I employed a young man from Philadelphia by the name of Frank Hudson,
to survey and plat what is known as the University Addition to Madison. Mr.
Hudson was very fond of reading, devoting much time to such works as gave
accounts of the habits and customs of the natives, and while thus engaged, he
found in some Indian legends the names of Monona and Mendota (perhaps having an
origin akin to Winona and Hiawatha), and he at once suggested that the lakes
each side of Madison be christened with those charming names. This suggestion
was generally approved, and a bill was prepared for the purpose of giving these
names to the Third and Fourth lakes the sanction of law; but inasmuch as we did
not readily find any names suitable or acceptable to give the First and Second
lakes, the matter was dropped at that time, but Monona and Mendota were adopted
by generalise.

  Some years later the subject of giving Indian names to all the lakes was again
renewed, and the names of Kegonsa and Waubesa were found and adopted by Gov.
Farwell and others then taking an interest in the matter, as very pretty and
appropriate names for the First and Second lakes. To make the christening in
such a public and. formal manner as to give it dignity and command respect, a
bill devoting an entire section to each lake, the more firmly to attach its
chosen name, was prepared, introduced into the legislature, and became a law on
the 14th day of February, 1855; and by the 5th section of the same act,
"Catfish" was blotted out, and Yahara legalized as the name of the small river
upon which these lakelets are strung like jewels on a cord of silver.

  These names have now become familiar to all, and I can see no reason why they
were not as well selected, as appropriately applied, and may not be as enduring,
as if the christening had been done by the wildest savage that ever shouted his
war whoop or raised a lodge pole upon their varied borders.

  Gen. Mills' explanation of the application of the names of Monona and Mendota
to Third and Fourth lakes, needs only to be supplemented with the origin of
those of Kegonsa and Waubesa applied to First and Second lakes, together with
their significations.

  Some time in 1854, Governor Farwell, when preparing a map of Madison and the
Four Lake Country, subsequently published, applied to Lyman C. Draper to aid him
in determining appropriate names for each of these beautiful sheets of water.
The Indians denominated .them collectively Ty-cho-be-rah, or the Four Lakes;* to
which it is reasonable to suppose they applied numerical names; else, as in all
other instances, they would have given some other specific appellation, which
would have been handed down to the first settlers.

  * Featherstonhaugh's Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor (Minnesota), and Account
of the Lead Mines of Wisconsin, in 1837.

  Mr. Draper examined such Indian vocabularies as he had in his library, and
ascertained that Mendota, which had been applied to Fourth lake, was a Chippewa
word, signifying large or great; [2] and being a pretty name, and appropriately
significant, was rightly judged most proper to remain. The signification of
Monona, applied to Third lake, does not seem to have been found in any of the
limited Indian vocabularies consulted; but Gov. Farwell, or perhaps Col. A. A.
Bird, had understood that it substantially meant "Fairy" or "Beautiful Water;"
so that also remained unchanged.

  [2] Long's Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter and Trader, London,
179 3, p. 267. S. R. Riggs' Dakota Dictionary gives the meaning of Mendota as
the outlet of a lake.

  As no special Indian names were known for First and Second Lakes, it was
deemed advisable to select appropriate designations. First Lake, as the outlet
of the others, was regarded as good fishing ground, on the southeastern bay of
which, the Winnebagoes, in early times, had a small village [3] so it was
concluded to call it "Fish Lake," if some euphonious Indian name could be found
having that signification—Kegonsa was found to have that meaning. [4] Gov.
Farwell remarked that the only thing for which Second Lake was noted, was that
an unusually large swan had formerly been killed there; and the word Wau-be-sa
was found to signify "Swan," [5] and was accordingly adopted as a fitting
designation.

  [3] Map of the Lead Mines, by R. W. Chandler, of Galena, 1826.

  [4] Mr. Draper, after a lapse of twenty-three years, does not recall the full
authority for this; but Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes, ii, 465, shows that Ke-go-e
was the Chippewa word signifying fish; and it is sufficiently apparent hat
Kegonsa had its origin in Ke-go-e.

  [5] In Col. De Peyster's Miscellanies, published in 1811, this word is twice
given as the Indian signification for swan, p. 83, and p. 272, probably Chippewa
or Ottawa, as he had long public intercourse with those tribes during his
command at Mackinaw, from 1774 to 1779.

  Thus were placed upon this map of the Four Lake country in 1856, of which not
less than ten thousand copies were circulated by the liberal hearted projector,
the names of Ke-gon-sa, or Fish Lake, Wau-he-sa, or Swan Lake; Mo-no-na, or
Fairy Lake; and Men-do-ta or Great Lake. Let these euphonious and appropriate
Indian names be perpetuated forever! [6]

  [6] An effort was made by Col. A. A. Bird, when a member of Assembly in 1851,
to call the lakes "Doty, Catlin, O'Neal and Bird," in honor of some of the early
settlers, but not meeting with encouragement from the member in the Senate, Hon.
E. B. Dean, jr., the subject dropped.

  Wingra, or Dead Lake, lies southwest of Lake Monona, into which it discharges
its waters. It was known by the name of Wingra at the first settlement of the
country, but its signification is uncertain. [7]

  [7] Hon. Josiah A. Noonan, when he visited the site of Madison, in February,
1837, learned from Joe Pelkie, the Indian trader, that Wingra meant Duck. This,
however, is doubtful; for the Winnebagoes, who lived in this region, were a
family of the Dakota group, and the Dakota Dictionary shows no such word: and
the words for both duck and dead, have no resemblance whatever to Wingra, nor do
the Chippewa or Ottawa vocabularies serve to throw any light on the subject.

  Before the county became settled by the whites, the whole section of this
country was deemed scarcely inhabitable. In a little book written by John A.
Wakefield, Esq., who accompanied the troops that pursued Black Hawk in 1832, we
quote the following as a sample of what was the opinion then entertained of this
beautiful Four Lake country by those troops who accompanied Gen. Henry. After
describing the thickets and swamps through which they passed from Rock river to
the lakes, he says:

  "We were close to the four lakes, and we wished to come up with them (the
Sacs) before they reached that place, as it was known to be a stronghold for the
Indians. * * * We reached the first of the lakes about sundown, when Gen. Henry
here called a halt, and consulted with Poquette, our pilot, as to the country we
were approaching. Poquette, who was well acquainted with the country, told he
could not get through it after night; that we had to march close to the margin
of the lake for some distance, as the underwood stood so thick one man could not
see another ten steps. * * * We soon discovered that the pilot had told no lie,
for we found the country that the enemy was leading us into worse, if possible,
than what he had told us. We could turn neither to the right hand nor the left,
but were compelled to follow the trail the Indians had made, and that, too, for
a great distance at the edge of the water of the lake. * * * From a description
of the country, a person would very naturally suppose that these lakes were as
little pleasing to the eye of the traveler as the country is: but not so. I
think they are the most beautiful bodies of water I ever saw. The first one that
we came to was about ten miles in circumference, and the water as clear as
crystal. The earth sloped back in a gradual rise, and the bottom of the lake
appeared to be entirely covered with white pebbles. * * * The second one must
have been about twenty miles in circumference; the ground rose very high all
around, and the heaviest kind of timber grew close to the water's edge. If those
lakes were anywhere else except in the country they are, they would be
considered among the wonders of the world. But the country they are situated in
is not fit for any civilized nation of people to inhabit. It appears the
Almighty intended it for the children of the forest."

  After reading the above we are forcibly reminded of the famous Morse telegram,
"What hath God wrought!" We can now look around on the city in its beauty and
the many villages and hamlets scattered throughout this very land, once deemed
so uninhabitable.

  The principal streams in the county are the Yahara, or Catfish; Koshkonong,
signifying The lake we live on, is a lake, or "spread" of Rock river, and
Koshkonong creek a small stream rising in Sun Prairie and emptying into lake
Koshkonong; Black Earth, named so from the color of the water; and Sugar river,
from the number of sugar maple trees found in the vicinity of its mouth.* These
streams furnish good water power for a large number of flouring mills and
manufactures.

  * It is supposed by some that this stream received its name from the
government surveyors in 1833, who were so delighted with the change from the
bitter marsh water they had been drinking that they named it Sugar river." but
as some of the maps published in 1829 designates one location on the edge of the
stream, in Green county, "Sugar Furnice," the inference is, as well as the
testimony of the early settlers there, that the Indians called it "Su-ga," from
the above fact.

  A large amount of good stone, for building purposes, is obtained throughout
the county. The cream colored stone used in the body of the United States'
Postoffice, was obtained in the town of Westport, where the government
purchased, and still retains possession, we believe, of the quarry from which
the stones were taken.

  The highest point of land is one of the Blue Mounds, two conical hills about
twenty-five miles west of Madison, and through which the county lines of Dane
and Iowa run north and south, leaving the highest peak of the two cones in Dane,
which is about 1,000 feet above the level of the Wisconsin river. The Indians
called the mounds "Smoky Mountains," an account of a blue smoke or fog usually
seen on the top, and which has given rise to the term Blue Mounds. The view from
the top of these mounds is most magnificent. A distance of twenty-five to thirty
miles can be seen from their tops, and the diversity of landscape is such as
neither pen nor pencil can describe.

  The country is diversified by hills and valleys of the most pleasing character
for beauty of landscape, and the soil is composed of black deposits of decayed
vegetation, except in some few localities where there are clay and sand. The
deposits in the valleys are often several feet deep, while on the tops and edges
of hills it is several inches thick, being thus adapted to all kinds of
agricultural purposes.

  In 1840, the population of the county was 314—1850,16,654—1855, 37,714—1860,
43,992—1865, 50,192—1870, 53,096—1875, 52,798, which shows it to be the largest
in population of any county outside of Milwaukee, as also being the largest
tax-payer, with the above exception. The assessed value of property in 1846 was
$50,319, and the tax $2,526, while in 1875 it was $19,546,438, and the tax
$54,705. The tax being more than the assessment of 1846. The bonded indebtedness
of the county for 1876, was $22,000.

  There are 123 churches, with a property valuation of $360,701.00. The
school-fund apportionment for the county was, in 1876, $8,490.69, and the number
of children, 20,709. There are 206 school districts outside of Madison, which
has eight school buildings.

  There are three railways that pass through the county, the first of which, the
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul (formerly the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien),
enters on section 32, in the southeast corner of the town of Albion, and then
through the center of the county in a northwestern direction, leaving on section
18, town of Mazomanie—completed to Madison in 1854. One of the branches of this
road, called the Madison, Sun Prairie and Watertown road, leaves Madison in a
northeast direction, and the county on section. 12, in town of Medina—completed
to Madison in 1868?

  The Madison and Portage road leaves Madison, and passes directly north,
leaving the county on section 1, town of Vienna—completed to Madison in 1871.

  The Chicago and Northwestern road (formerly the Beloit and Madison) enters the
county in the south, on section 31, town of Rutland, and passes directly north
into the city of Madison, after which it runs in a northwestern direction,
leaving at the junction of sections two and three, town of Dane—completed to
Madison in 1866. That portion of this road between Madison and Baraboo, before
its completion to St. Paul, was known as the Baraboo Air Line.

  The county is an agricultural one (with limited mining in Blue Mounds), and as
such, as well as in wealth and population, is not surpassed by any other, but
Milwaukee, in the state. Its rich lands and beautiful scenery are not eclipsed
by any county of its size either east or west, and its future prosperity will be
equal to its past, as its resources, hygiene and loveliness of landescape become
known.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Dane County Towns Section

MADISON, DANE COUNTY AND SURROUNDING TOWNS;
BEING A HISTORY AND GUIDE
TO PLACES OF SCENIC BEAUTY AND HISTORICAL NOTE FOUND IN THE TOWNS OF DANE COUNTY
AND SURROUNDINGS, INCLUDING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNS, AND EARLY INTERCOURSE
OF THE SETTLERS WITH THE INDIANS, THEIR CAMPS, TRAILS, MOUNDS, ETC.

WITH A COMPLETE LIST OF
COUNTY SUPERVISORS AND OFFICERS,
AND
LEGISLATIVE MEMBEES, MADISON VILLAGE AND CITY COUNCIL.

ILLUSTRATED,
MADISON, WIS.:
PUBLISHED BY WM. J. PARK & CO.,

BOOKSELLERS, STATIONERS AND BINDERS, 11 KING STREET.
1877.

COPYRIGHT.
WM. J. PARK & CO. 1877.

DAVID ATWOOD, STEREOTYPER AND PRINTER, MADISON, WIS.

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